Health 2020: Education and health through the life-course - en

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Health 2020: Education and health through the life-course - en
Sector brief on
                                                                                                                       Education health

July 2015

Health 2020:
Education and
health through
the life-course

Synergy between sectors:
fostering better education
and health outcomes

Summary

The Health 2020 policy framework has              communities and societies, reduce inequal-       • improving health literacy and strengthen-
been adopted by all Member States of the          ities and support human development, not           ing essential life skills, including parenting,
WHO European Region in order to address           only improving good health and well-being          cooking and critical thinking as well as
Europe’s great social and health challenges,      but also enhancing learning and personal           sexual and reproductive health and rights;
calling upon the health sector to reach out       growth as well as fostering healthy and          • encouraging civic engagement and social
to, and work with, all the various sectors        resilient communities and economies.               inclusion through focusing on social and
and parties in the continuous work of                                                                emotional learning, building people’s
improving people’s health and well-being.         The education sector can help create               self-esteem and confidence;
Investing in education also means investing       healthier people and communities by:             • supporting individuals in accessing the
in health throughout the life-course. Educa-                                                         labour market and reducing their like-
tion is crucial to opportunities for participa-   • ensuring availability and access to mean-        lihood of exclusion through long-term
tion in society, keeping people in the labour       ingful lifelong learning opportunities;          unemployment; and
market and supporting their return if they        • creating learning environments that are        • working with the health sector to reduce
lose employment, improving health literacy          both safe and supportive and focus on the        gender-based inequalities, including in
and strengthening community resilience.             development of the whole person –                their roles as key employers of women.
By working together, health and education           cognitively, socially, emotionally, mentally
can contribute significantly to individuals,        and physically;
Health 2020: Education and health through the life-course - en
Key messages
                                The goal of Health 2020 is to significantly improve
                             the health and well-being of populations, reduce health
                                 inequalities, strengthen public health and ensure
                                 people-centred health systems that are universal,
                                    equitable, sustainable and of high quality.

                                                             1
                                                 Health and wellbeing are
                                                public goods and assets for
                                                 human development that
                                                contribute to strong, dynamic
                                                   and creative societies.

                    5                                                                                   2
    Social progress is best mea-                                                          Health and well-being are
    sured by objective indicators                                                        best achieved if the whole of
    of health, health equity and                                                         government works together,
      well-being, and this includes                                                     and Health 2020 promotes whole-
     the conditions in which people                                                       of-government and whole-of-
        are born, live and work.                                                               society approaches.

                                           4                                        3
                          Different countries, cities                    Health and well-being
                      and communities are at different                can be improved and health
                      starting-points; each is unique and             inequalities reduced, through
                       can pursue common goals through                 the right policies and working
                              different pathways.                            with other sectors.

2          Health 2020: Education health
Health 2020: Education and health through the life-course - en
Strengthening health and
educational over the lifecourse

In 2012, all 53 Member States in the             opportunities and income, better living
European Region adopted Health 2020,             conditions, confidence levels and literacy,
the new common European health policy            including health literacy. In addition, adult
framework, and committed themselves to           learning can have positive effects on life
developing integrative policies that engage      satisfaction, mental health and changes
with all sectors in addressing the social        in health-supporting behaviour such as
and economic determinants of health and          smoking cessation, active lifestyles, healthy
well-being. A life-course approach in the        eating and duration of breastfeeding.
pursuit of better health and health equity       Offering opportunities for continual edu-
goals includes action at every stage of life –   cation as well as a second chance for edu-
preconception, pregnancy, early childhood,       cation in adulthood is crucial in promoting
adolescence and transition to adulthood,         equity. Getting the courage to go back to
the transition to working life, employment       learning is a particular challenge for people
and navigating the modern labour market          who have poor experience with education
and as people age. Family, peer groups and       in their youth. Investing in accessible educa-
community settings are therefore crucial to      tion throughout the life-course is therefore
implementing the life-course approach, and       a priority in breaking the cycle of poverty,
the education sector plays a key role in this.   exclusion and the effects on people’s health
                                                 and well-being.
Education has positive lifelong effects on
health through increased employment

                                                                                                  World Health Organization   3
Health 2020: Education and health through the life-course - en
Health 2020:
    a framework for action

    The goal of Health 2020 is to significantly improve
    the health and well-being of populations, reduce
    health inequalities, strengthen public health and
    ensure people-centred health systems that are uni-
    versal, equitable, sustainable and of high quality.

    All Member States of the WHO European Region have        What makes societies prosper and flourish can also
    agreed to monitor progress against six common targets:   make people healthy, and policies that recognize this
                                                             have more impact.

                                                             Building awareness and capacity to make health objec-
    1. Reduce premature mortality in                         tives part of society’s overall socioeconomic and human
                                                             development is essential. All policy fields, including
       the European Region by 2020                           health, need to reform their ways of working and use
                                                             new forms and approaches to policy at the global,
    2. Increase life expectancy in                           national and local levels.

       the European Region

    3. Reduce health inequalities in
       the European Region

    4. Enhance the wellbeing of the
       European Region population

    5. Ensure universal health coverage
       and the right to the highest
       attainable level of health

    6. Set national goals and targets
       related to health in Member States.

4   Health 2020: Education health
Synergy between sectors:
Education and lifelong learning to
support population health

Strengthening the link between
education and health over the
lifecourse

It is well understood that the quality and     women with more schooling, increased              compensatory services, to ensure that
number years of education are a crucial        birth intervals, increased awareness of good      learners receive adequate support to
determinant of health and health literacy      feeding practices, greater willingness to         overcome disadvantages.
throughout the life-course. The amount         seek health care and lower financial barriers
of education and its quality reinforce the     to access to health care.                         The health and education sectors share
effects of early-years development and in-                                                       common goals to address the needs of
fluence the subsequent social and economic     Today’s globalized economy, with knowl-           vulnerable groups and ensure a healthier
well-being, health and other outcomes of       edge societies and job markets that               future for everyone, especially when politi-
individuals. A growing body of empirical       increasingly require high cognitive and aca-      cal priorities change and during periods of
research suggests that, when countries         demic skills, inherently relies on high-quality   economic decline and austerity. Investing
adopt policies to improve education, the       education and frequent knowledge update.          in education also means investing in health
investment also pays off in healthier be-      Exclusion from high-quality education             and well-being. The numerous forms of syn-
haviour and longer and healthier lives. For    means people become more vulnerable               ergy and overlapping objectives and targets
example, studies of compulsory schooling       to subsequent adversity and ill health.           between the health and education sectors
reforms adopted in several countries in the    Education and lifelong learning can equip         means that working together enables better
European Region conclude not only that the     the population better with skills to adapt to     health and social outcomes for individuals,
reforms lead to additional years of complet-   a changing working environment,                   communities and societies.
ed schooling but also that the additional      which could thereby influence health.
schooling reduces the population rates
of smoking and obesity. More than three        Research studies in education and adult
decades of experience with a whole-school      literacy indicate that literacy influences the
approach to health demonstrates effects on     ability to access information and navigate in
improving health behaviour, better learning    literate environments, affects cognitive and
outcomes, reducing school absenteeism and      linguistic abilities and affects self-efficacy.
better school completion.                      Further lifelong learning (both formal and
                                               informal) improves health literacy, which
Numerous studies have found a positive         influences health outcomes. Addressing
association between a mother’s education       inequity in educational outcomes means
level and her child’s chances of fulfilling    tackling inequity in educational opportuni-
his or her potential. The pathways through     ties and in outcomes. This means ensuring
which this operates are varied but include     that the same quality of opportunity is
a decrease in teenage pregnancy among          open to everyone and, by providing

                                                                                                           World Health Organization        5
Synergy between sectors:
    collaboration to support resilience
    and promote equity

    How can the sectors
    work together?

    Health 2020 provides a platform for such         KEY AREAS TO EXPLORE TOGETHER INCLUDE:
    joint working between the education and
    health sectors. Working together, we have        • how health and education can align poli-
    the power to intervene to address some of          cies that benefit both sectors and serve the
    today’s greatest health challenges, including      whole person;
    health inequalities, social exclusion and        • how to pursue the shared goal of tackling
    support sustainable development, while             health and educational inequities through
    ensuring that individuals and communities          the integrated long-term efforts of the
    are able to fulfil their highest potential. In     health and education sectors;
    turn, intersectoral collaboration promotes       • how the health and education sectors can
    and supports educational attainment by             work together in times of economic or
    fostering healthy students, healthy adults         external pressure; and
    and healthy learning environments.               • how to optimize outcomes in health and
                                                       education equity by strengthening the
                                                       partnerships between the health, social,
                                                       education and employment sectors.

    How can education                    • Build the foundations for health literacy (including media literacy) in early
                                           childhood and adolescence
    and lifelong learning                • Develop and support health-promoting schools approaches
    make a difference                    • Address the barriers to adult learning, including older ages, gender equity and
                                           work–life balance
    to health?
                                         • Include in education and lifelong learning the population groups at the highest
                                           risk of experiencing multiple exclusionary processes, especially people in rural
                                           areas, people with disabilities, migrants and minority ethnic groups such as Roma
                                         • Ensure that all adults have basic skills, especially reading and writing skills, and
                                           complete secondary education also with a focus on practical learning
                                         • Provide options for secondary education with adequate work–life balance

6   Health 2020: Education health
Collaborating to improve the
                 well-being of people and communities

                 THE CHALLENGE                                    THE RESPONSE NEEDED

                 Too often both sectors serve the same            Both sectors examine and better understand via
                 individual, for similar issues, via varied and   dialogue the core mandates, constraints, attributes,
                 frequently competing practices and funding       processes and characteristics of each system to better
                                                                  integrate within them

                 For the most vulnerable young people and         The health and education sector work in partnership
                 adults, educational and health challenges        with other sectors to create coherence with active
                 coexist with other social challenges             labour-market policies, including employment creation,
                                                                  reschooling and retraining, lifelong learning and other
                                                                  social protection measures such as affordable housing,
                                                                  childcare and income support

                 Children and young adults who have faced         Jointly adopt participatory and community-based
                 disruption in their learning may be reluctant    approaches, fostering understanding among profes-
                 to resume education                              sionals across the sectors on why people do not actively
                                                                  engage in learning activities as well as the systemic and
                                                                  structural barriers and policy enablers for learning

                 In times of societal and economic change,        Work together to focus on joint outcomes that benefit
                 individual and community resilience is key       each sector and the individual, such as strengthening
                                                                  literacy, including media literacy and health literacy,
                                                                  using the levers available to both sectors as well as
                                                                  in partnership with others, to strengthen community
                                                                  participation in decision-making

                 Social challenges require coherence across       Work together across all levels of governance, including
                 policies and new partnerships                    advocating for a whole-of-government approach that
                                                                  would include common goals such as well-being as
                                                                  measures of national progress

How can health make a                 • Address the health-related barriers to student learning and school success,
                                        focusing on preventing school dropout, chronic student absences, key tran-
difference to education                 sitions and students at the highest risk of school or family difficulties through
and lifelong learning?                  programmes such as accessible family planning and services, oral health pro-
                                        grammes, child vision and hearing assessments, school meals and others
                                      • Ensure equal access to high-quality health services emphasizing disease
                                        prevention, health promotion and integration with child and family services
                                        from other sectors as part of comprehensive health in all policies approaches

                                                                                          World Health Organization         7
Using Health 2020 as a platform for
joint work: a political mandate and
evidence base
The Health 2020 policy framework has a            Data indicate that the number of years of
political mandate. It has been adopted by all     formal schooling completed is the most
                                                                                                   Reducing health inequalities
European Member States and can be adapt-          important correlate of good health. Accord-
                                                                                                   To reduce health inequalities, addressing
ed to the different settings and realities that   ing to the Human development report 2003,
                                                                                                   the following is a good start:
make up the European Region. It describes         education, health, nutrition and water and
how health and well-being can be advanced,        sanitation are mutually reinforcing, with
sustained and measured through action that        investment in any one contributing to better
                                                                                                   LIFE-COURSE STAGE
creates social cohesion, security, a good         outcomes in the others.
                                                                                                   • Social protection for women, mothers-
work–life balance, good health and good ed-
                                                                                                      to-be and young families
ucation. It calls on the health sector to reach   It is also well documented that health affects
                                                                                                   • Universal, high-quality and affordable
out to the many different actors within and       education. Research demonstrates that,
                                                                                                      early-years education and care system
outside government and provides inspiration       when children’s basic nutritional and fitness
                                                                                                   • Eradication of unsafe work and access
and direction on addressing the complex           needs are met, they attain higher achieve-
                                                                                                      to employment and high quality work
health challenges of the 21st century. The        ment levels. Similarly, using school-based
                                                                                                   • Coherent and effective intersectoral
framework confirms values, is informed by         and school-linked health centres that ensure
                                                                                                      action to tackle inequalities at older ages
evidence and identifies strategic directions      access to needed physical, mental and oral
and essential actions. It builds on the expe-     health care improves attendance, behaviour
                                                                                                   WIDER SOCIETY
riences gained through previous Health for        and achievement. Developing a positive
                                                                                                   • Improved social protection, according
All policies and guides the actions of both       social and emotional climate increases
                                                                                                     to need
Member States and the Regional Office.            academic achievement, reduces stress and
                                                                                                   • Co-creation and partnership with those
                                                  improves positive attitudes toward oneself
                                                                                                     targeted, civil society and civic partners
Clear evidence indicates the association be-      and others.
                                                                                                   • Action to reduce social exclusion
tween levels of educational attainment and
                                                                                                   • Gender equity approach
health outcomes, most profoundly demon-           The public health challenges faced by
strated by disproportionately higher rates of     countries of the European Region require
                                                                                                   BROADER CONTEXT
premature mortality and morbidity among           an effective life-course strategy that gives
                                                                                                   • Promoting equity through tax and trans-
people of lower educational background,           priority to new interdisciplinary approaches
                                                                                                     fer payments
irrespective of other factors. People with        to promoting health and preventing disease,
                                                                                                   • Long-term planning through links with
less education are more likely to experience      based on the principles of engagement and
                                                                                                     other policies
employment difficulties, poverty and social       empowerment. Governments that invest in
exclusion, receive inadequate health support,     education also invest in health. Health 2020
                                                                                                   SYSTEMS
reside in hazardous environments and live         sees the education sector as a co-producer of
                                                                                                   • Greater coherence across sectors
shorter and more disability-burdened lives        health; a setting in which healthy behaviour
                                                                                                   • Comprehensive responses
than people who have enjoyed better and           is learned and promoted; a policy area with
                                                                                                   • Regular reporting and public scrutiny
more schooling. The link between educa-           ownership over consumable goods that are
tion and health comprises a challenge for         key determinants of health; a physical and
a society at large and not just for the most      social environment that provides safety and
disadvantaged people, because more equal          models healthy, sustainable practices; an
societies perform better on all levels of         employer of a key workforce for children’s
human development, including health.              health and well-being; a trainer of profes-
By working together, the health and educa-        sionals who play a vital role in the health
tion sectors can create synergy between the       and well-being of the future society; and a
two and create an enabling environment that       partner in striving for investment in sectors
enables and motivates individuals to fulfil       that contribute to developing social capital
their potential.                                  and gender equity.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION | REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE
UN City, Marmorvej 51, DK-2100 Copenhagen ø, Denmark
Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00 Fax: +45 45 33 70 01 E-mail: contact@euro.who.int
Web site: www.euro.who.int
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